Our selection of some of the best news photographs taken around the world during the past 24 hours.

Image copyrightAFPImage caption
Elections are being held in Mozambique, with the governing Frelimo party facing a tough challenge from Renamo, its longstanding rival.

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On day three of the sentencing procedure of South African Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius, prosecutors began to outline their case for him to serve a jail term for killing girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.

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The latest effort by Greece to regain from the UK the Parthenon sculptures - also known as the Elgin Marbles - has attracted much media attention because one of the lawyers hired by the Greek government is Amal Alamuddin Clooney, the wife of Hollywood actor George Clooney. She visited the Acropolis Museum in Athens on Wednesday.

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Algerian police demonstrated in the capital Algiers against violence inflicted on their colleagues in the south of the country during tension between the Berber and Arab communities. Their protest comes as concern mounts over the health of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika who it is feared is too ill to run the country.

Image copyrightReutersImage caption
Smoking could be banned in London's Trafalgar and Parliament squares - in addition to parks in the UK capital - if a report by the city's health commission is implemented.

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Cambodia is preparing for Thursday's resumption of the second trial of two former Khmer Rouge leaders at a UN-backed court in Phnom Penh on charges including genocide of Vietnamese people and ethnic Muslims, forced marriages and rape.

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A total of 28 Afghan brides and grooms attended a collective wedding in Ghazni specifically designed for less affluent couples.

Image copyrightAFPImage caption
Indian college girls wear traditional Punjabi dress as they perform a Punjabi folk dance, the "giddha", during a youth festival at Guru Nanak Dev University in Amritsar.